Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm not a snake keeper, I have turtles! But my friend and I were hiking along an abandoned railroad track and found this baby sunning itself on the rocks near the track. We are in sw Michigan. The area below the tracks was kinda swampy.

Can anyone ID it from this pic? Thanks!

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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

DeKay's Brownsnake (Storeria dekayi). They are small relatives of gartersnakes, and feed mainly on slugs, snails, and earthworms.

Oh, and he's very likely an adult. They are one of the several eastern 'small woodland snakes', like ringnecks, wormsnakes, earthsnakes, crowned snakes, etc. that average a foot or less and are commonly found beneath cover in wooded areas. Brownsnakes are also one of the snakes that most frequently enter homes.

n/p
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Wow! Thanks for the info! I actually had no idea that kind of snake even existed! lol! Ya learn something new every day! Thanks again!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

>>DeKay's Brownsnake (Storeria dekayi). They are small relatives of gartersnakes, and feed mainly on slugs, snails, and earthworms.

I just found a pair of babies like this the other day...Odd thing about them is that they are definitely the same specie of snake,but one looks very anerythristic(with patternless looking sides),while the other has a really nice gold/brown/tan/ aztec look.
When I found them,they were huddled together under a piece of plastic in the backyard..They both have had what appears to be their first sheds in the small terrarium they are durrently in.(The sheds were totally clear of pattern,or color.)

Are Dekayi known to be this different in color and markings like this as babies?..(If not,then i may keep and raise them up.)
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Charles Glaspie

np...
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Charles Glaspie

I've seen a pretty broad range of colors in S. dekayi, including many shades of yellowish, reddish, and neutral browns, and a few gray to almost black ones. There is also variation in the prominence of the vertebral stripe, dark dorsal markings, and occipital and facial markings. They don't seem to show distinct color morphs the way S. occipitomaculata (red-bellied snakes) do.

When they are born they are very dark with a light ring around the neck. They are born 1-2 inches long and about 2-3 MM in diameter.

They grow very rapidly and within a few weeks they start to look like the adults do, just smaller.

My largest "Athena" is about 16-18 inches long, and by Dekay Brown standards, that is a huge snake.

They make interesting pets too Several of mine will sit in my left hand and eat from my right while I hold them.

Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey

Some of our snakes

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1.2.9 Storeria dekayi Casper, Xena, Athena, & Kids
0.0.2 Thamnophis marcianus - Checkered Garter Snakes
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis - common Garter - Princess
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon - Water Snake - "Aqua"
0.1.10 Storeria occipitomaculata - Red Belly snakes
0.0.1 Amelanistic Corn Snake "CY" Juvinile CB
0.1.0. Pueblan Milk snake "Oreo" adult CB
1.0.0. ASIAN GREEN SNAKE 3' WC Cyclophiops major
0.0.1. Savannah Monitor "CHOMPER" CB
0.1.0. Green Anole "Crystal" WC
1.0.0. K9 "ACE" Black Cockapoo
1.2.0. Feline"Felix" "Kaja" & "Silver"
0.1.0. calico RAT
2.4.?? Mice - Feeder farm - Crickets / fish
More herps than I could ever list out back on the land.

Thats cool i havent seen one since i was a kid,they use to be all over under old plywood or anything laying in the grassy areas,we use to call them copper bellies,come in color from grays to brown/brownish reddish.many in upper peninsula

i have caught hundreds as a young boy-teen years and never has one ever tried to bite.very docile.i would keep them a few days and release them back,same with garter snakes,now some of them were fairly nippy and one got my grandpa on the thumb good when he was teasing it.he never harmed any animal,he was a good man